The protagonist rejects both and, in the process, manages to actually grow up. Elite live a sheltered, hedonistic life or else focus exclusively on power and influence. Lee envisions a future society further splitting into distinct have and have nots. Societal backlash due to fear of robots taking away human jobs forces them on the run, but societal imperatives win out. Her robot lover’s skillset involves music, and they get by busking.

The daughter of a rich and powerful elite becomes fascinated with this development and eventually obsessed to the point of giving up her wealthy lifestyle to be with her robot ‘lover’ and live a more bohemian lifestyle. Tanith Lee’s The Silver Metal Lover is a world set in the not too distant future where ‘robots’ along with a degree of artificial intelligence make possible robots that appear as humans wearing metallic body paint. An no spoiler, but the ending lacked any twist and was very unsatisfying for me. Its set in a dystopia but one that is not really well developed beyond what is needed for the plot and that was not much. The world building as such was also very weak. Despite all the things and events that happen to the character, as a reader from my perspective, the outcome was never in doubt and the main characters never feel at risk for nearly all of the novel. It is a coming of age story but there is no real challenges we see cause this coming of age in the main character.

From my point of view the characters are good but the plot never seems to test or challenge the characters. My fault for not reading a more thorough summary before buying the book. I am a middle age male and it was clearly written for a female young adult. I am not the writer's audience for this novel. In defense of the author I think that is as much my fault as the author's. You love some, hate others, and indifferent to a few more as a good novel should have. So she escapes into the city's violent, decaying slums to embrace a love bordering on madness.Not much of a plot, not what I expected or hope.įirst the good, the writing itself is good and the characters are interesting. And she will give up everything to prove it. Until Jane's life is changed forever by a chance encounter with a robot minstrel with auburn hair and silver skin, whose songs ignite in her a desperate and inexplicable passion.Jane is certain that Silver is more than just a machine built to please. She and her friends are the idle, pampered children of the privileged class, living in luxury on an Earth remade by natural disaster. In this unforgettably poignant novel, Lee has created a classic tale?a beautiful, tragic, sensual, and ultimately triumphant love story of the future.Love is made of more than mere flesh and blood.For sixteen-year-old Jane, life is a mystery she despairs of ever mastering. Tanith Lee is one of the most thought-provoking and imaginative authors of our time.

The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee